Top 5 favourite Phantoms!

Hi, I've decided to reveal to you my top 5 favourite Phantoms cos to be honest, there aren't any that I hate vocally or acting wise (except for Gerard Butler).

1) 25th anniversary Phantom, original Phantom in Love Never Dies & London's youngest ever Phantom when he was 28, Ramin Karimloo! His voice always manages to seduce me & he has brought different qualities into his interpretation to the Phantom which I haven't seen in any other actor before him. I saw him in Love Never Dies twice & he was the only good  thing about it, to be honest, and he left me in tears  when I went to the concert at the Royal Albert Hall at the end of the performance & seduced me during Music of the Night & I think he's so nice & lovely because I've managed to meet him twice: once after an evening performance of LND & at a CD signing a few months ago for his début album. 

2) Current UK tour Phantom & London's longest running Phantom, John Owen-Jones. The 41 year-old Welsh actor has an amazing voice & acting qualities for the Phantom, especially during the Final Lair scene after he lets Raoul & Christine go, after watching his final performance on YouTube before he returned in 2010. Also, he was clearly a favourite with fans because during the encore of the 25th anniversary concert, he was the one who everybody seemed to have loved more than the other Phantoms who were on-stage with him while singing with Sarah Brightman. 

3) Original Phantom & Some Mothers Do 'ave 'em star, Michael Crawford. When I first heard him sing, I was quite shocked with the quality of it, considering he has a rather high voice for a man with a baritone range, especially after watching the original music video for Music of the Night. I also think if it weren't for him replacing Steve Hartley as the original Phantom, I don't think the show would've been as successful as it is now, because to be honest, I didn't like Steve Hartley because he sounded too rock to be the seductive Phantom.

4) Broadway Phantom Gary Mauer AKA the Phantom whose wife played Christine with him on-stage. His voice is just magnificent & his version of Music of the Night was amazing & he really brought his emotion in his performances opposite his wife, Elizabeth Southard especially during the Final Lair scene & the Journey scene.

5) Original Australian Phantom, Anthony Warlow, mainly because of his powerful & flawless voice, after listening to & watching videos of him in the stage production & he was amazing at the 25th anniversary concert, especially when he sang his bits of Music of the Night & the title song with Sarah Brightman, as well as with the other Phantoms who were with him.

Phantom of the Opera 2004 film Review

Since I talked about the film in the Dreamgirls review, I'm just gonna do one anyway.

Rating: *

Starring: Emmy Rossum, Gerard Butler, Patrick Wilson, Minnie Driver, Miranda Richardson, Jennifer Ellison

This film adaptation of the classic Andrew Lloyd Webber musical is in one word: HORRIBLE! It's a disgrace to any other adaptation of the classic beauty and the beast love story, only focusing on spectacle rather than the rather amazing plot. Set in Paris, 1871, a deformed man who lives in the underground of the Opera Populaire falls in love with Christine Daae & helps her become a star after Carlotta, the diva of the opera walks out on the night of a gala performance with the Vicomte de Chagny, who happens to be Christine's childhood sweetheart. They both start to fall in love again, but, believing he's her Angel of Music, Christine begins to feel a passionate love for the secluded & socially unaccepted Phantom & has to choose between the two men of her life. 

This film is horrible! The direction isn't what it's cracked up to be & the writing had to be redone, as I believe it wasn't focused on the actual plot, but rather trying to succumb people to see it just because it's an Andrew Lloyd Webber show & therefore it didn't matter what was in the film itself. There were numerous differences between this and the musical which I couldn't stand at all & they had to cut some of my favourite scenes (i.e, before the Don Juan performance with Raoul & the managers & the Phantom scaring the policeman in the pit & the second notes scene). Also, the actors were awful (with the exception of Minnie Driver despite the fact she didn't sing, which made me think 'WHY THE HELL DON'T YOU GET SOMEONE WHO'S FUNNY AND CAN SING INSTEAD OF GETTING A HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS?!' and I also loved it when she yelled 'I hate my hat!') like Gerard Butler portraying the Phantom as if he was in a bad high school play & while he can sing, his voice is completely wrong for the seductive Phantom, which made it really awkward in the classic song 'Music of the Night'. Emmy Rossum, who was 16 at the time of filming, was alright with her acting, but her singing just wasn't right for Christine & I didn't like her voice in general. Patrick Wilson made a drippy suitor out of Raoul.....yet again another actor who has played Raoul like that & his singing was OK, but lacked emotion! Miranda Richardson also confused me with her consistent French accent compared to the others, but then again, just shows she's a method actor in her characters' nationalities & their accents!

Also, one thing I must add which I hated was the clear errors in the film which weren't even considered to be changed or re-done i.e mouths not matching the lyrics or positioning of someone/something or camera crew seen in shadows, unless it's the Phantom's secret entourage(!)

However, I must admit I like some of the costumes used in the film, *cough Christine's Think Of Me dress & nightgown, cough* & the details into creating them, but that still doesn't draw me away from the reasons why I hate this film & why it doesn't do any justice to the really amazing show which you can go & see in London or anywhere which you can then think 'Oh, thank God I never bought this film because this is much better than that load of crap!' Or just buy the 25th anniversary concert of the show on DVD because I went there & it puts this film to shame & thank Lord Lloyd Webber himself for realizing afterwards how rubbish this film really is!

Dreamgirls Review

I watched this on telly last night cos I was bored & there was nothing else on, so I figured I should review this considering it's technically a musical, even if it's a film.

Cast: Beyonce Knowles, Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover, Anika Noni Rose

Rating: *****

This film is just pure magic & actually works as a film adaptation as the actors can sing in this, unlike some other musical films I've seen *cough, Phantom 2004 film, which I personally hate with a passion, cough* & Jennifer Hudson (in her film debut, I must add since I also watched her in the Sex and the City film) is definitely a major highlight, belting out those final notes meaningfully in 'And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going' & making me laugh with her portrayal as the plump diva Effie White, who ends up being fired due to her behaviour & missing rehearsals from the group The Dreamettes after being replaced by Deena Jones (Knowles) as the lead singer. She also proved she had better acting skills, after that rubbish Pink Panther film with Steve Martin & her song in Act 2 'Listen' written for the film, definitely showed Deena's empowerment over her manipulative husband, Curtis, a record dealer for Rainbow Records who's also the father of Effie's child Magic, who she has after she leaves Deena and the Dreams, also leaving her brother C.C after he accepts the change within the group. The song 'Listen' also gives us an opportunity to see what Beyonce is really capable of singing, emotionally & her vocal range, in my opinion.

Anika Noni Rose also gives a funny & sweet portrayal as Lorelle, who has an affair with James 'Thunder' Early. However, I think she's way underused & doesn't even have a solo, which I think she should have because she has a very pretty, yet strong voice.Also, I thought Eddie Murphy was a highlight for me with his comedy within the film, also showing his rather amazing singing skills which I didn't think he had within himself. One other point I must add is the costumes used are magnificent, especially the ones used in the Deena & the Dreams performances, with the set designs making me feel like I was watching a stage show instead of a film which really suited the image of the Dreamettes/Deena and the Dreams as glamorous & sophisticated, just like the film overall. 

Top 10 favourite Cosettes!

Since I don't have any Cosettes I personally or openly hate, I'm just going to reveal my favourite ones because all of the ones I've heard aren't that bad, despite the fact I don't like the character because she's just an ingénue & a boyfriend stealer who Eponine clearly deserves in contrast to her.

1) Original London Cosette & Christine in the Toronto production of Phantom, Rebecca Caine. Her voice is so pretty & suiting for the role & still sounded as beautiful as ever at the 25th anniversary concert (and I prefer her to Sarah Brightman in Phantom which is an added bonus!).

2) 25th anniversary concert & tour & previous London Cosette Katie Hall. Her voice is so beautiful & gives Cosette a sweetness & innocence & pureness within her personality, as well as showing a yearning & needing to know about her life as a child with the Thenardiers & about her mother in In My Life. 

3) Original Broadway & 10th Anniversary Cosette Judy Kuhn. Her voice is clearly trained to play the young Cosette & is a very pretty one for the role, & made her sound so happy during A Heart Full Of Love, even if you were meant to feel sorry for Eponine (also, I love her because she was Pocahontas' singing voice & found it very coincidental that Lea Salonga, AKA Jasmine & Mulan's singing voices, was singing with her in the 10th Anniversary Concert!).

4) Recent London Cosette (whose just left! ): ), Lisa Anne-Wood. Her voice sounds really angelic to me & to be honest, when I first heard her, I thought it was Katie Hall & the wrong name was used! I could tell from her first performance that she's definitely improved to become one of my all-time favourite Cosettes overall & in London. Also, her pretty face also shows Cosette's sweetness & innocence with her voice.

5)Previous London Cosette & How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria contestant Leanne Dobinson. I just think her voice sounds pretty & I think her child-like looks also show Cosette's innocence & show her yearning to know about her past.

6) Spanish dubbing actress for Christine in the Phantom 2004 film & previous London Cosette Julia Möller. I couldn't find any videos of her as Cosette where she sang, but I found her singing as Christine in the Spanish dub of Phantom & I could tell she had qualities of a youthful & sweet Cosette & her face when she looks at Marius when they first meet said it all about her love for him from the video I saw. 

7) Current Cosette & Fantine understudy AJ Callaghan. I saw her as Cosette in London & I thought she was so much better than principal actress Lucie Jones at the time (I listened to & watched videos of her singing in it in preparation for knowing how the cast at the time sounded) because I thought her voice sounded more trained & experienced as Cosette & showed off her personality more. Just so you know, I had to printscreen a pic of AJ in a performance on YouTube & crop it so it was a photo because I couldn't find a single photo of her as Cosette on-line.

8) Former London understudy Cosette & former Christine alternate in Phantom, Tabitha Webb. I saw her as Christine in London & I adored her & when I found audio of her as Cosette in Les Mis, that just made me love her even more, with her sweet & innocent voice creating both a sweet & innocent Cosette & a sweet & innocent Christine! Just so you know, I couldn't find any photos of Tabitha as Cosette or any videos which I could printscreen so I found it relevant to use an image of one of her more well known characters who is very similar to Cosette in personality.

9) 21st Anniversary London Cosette & previously Christine in Phantom in London & current Glinda in Wicked in London, Gina Beck. I just think her voice is so pretty & shows a strong-mindedness within Cosette which I haven't seen in any other actress who has played her before, especially during In My Life & A Heart Full Of Love, with her young face showing her youthfulness yet her maturity at the same time during Every Day & the Epilogue.

10) Cosette understudy Zoe Doano, because I think her voice shows she is worth so much more than an understudy &  in a in an unusual sense kind of reminds me of another Katie Hall, but with her own qualities which make Cosette her own character, especially when she sings In My Life.